Following a Supreme Court order, 11 lifetime members of the Nepal Academy who had been receiving lifelong allowances will no longer be entitled to those benefits.
The decision was originally made during a meeting of the Academy’s Council held on Falgun 11, 2079, under the chairmanship of Chancellor Bhupal Rai, to halt dual allowances for lifetime members. Affected members had filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court challenging the decision.
According to Member Secretary Dhan Prasad Subedi, the writ petition was dismissed by the Supreme Court on Chaitra 1, paving the way for the implementation of both the court’s order and the Academy’s earlier decision. He stated that the ruling effectively endorses the Academy’s move to stop dual benefits for lifetime members.
The petition had been filed by 11 lifetime members, including former Vice-Chancellor Basudev Tripathi. A joint bench of Justices Manoj Kumar Sharma and Nripdhwaj Niraula dismissed the case.
Those affected by the decision include Basudev Tripathi, Chudamani Bandhu Regmi, Gangaprasad Upreti, Yogendra Prasad Yadav, Tirtha Bahadur Shrestha, R.D. ‘Prabhas’ (Rajeshwar Datt Chatout), Ashesh Kumar Malla, Dhuvachandra Gautam, Toya Gurung, Tulsi Prasad Joshi (Tulsi Diwas), and Shashibikram Shah.
The Academy had decided to discontinue allowances for lifetime members who already receive salaries, benefits, or pensions from government service or other institutions. However, the members had argued that the stipend was an honorarium based on their academic contributions and should not be considered a double benefit. A separate writ had also been filed by Ghanendra Ojha opposing the provision of dual benefits to such members.
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